all those little white lies

layla greene, 21, twin to carter, electrokinesis, and pre-med.

[charlesxmunroe]

He took a sip from his own cup, the bitter taste filling his mouth, before bringing it to a rest on his knee. “Me? Flirt with you? Never.” The same grin was plastered across his face, threatening to grow. “You are part of the small group that doesn’t believe it. I’m sure one day it’ll dawn on you guys that this whole time you were just oblivious to the magic.” He chuckled, glad that being surrounded by work didn’t stop her from being herself. “Oh thank you for this wonderful coffee Charlie. No problem. You’re the best. Oh I know,” his voice alternating between a high mock of hers and his own.

[laylagreenes]

Another soft roll of her eyes, Layla started to shift some of the books out of his way and back towards the pile of them that lay out before her. They had barely begun to be cracked, knowing that she needed to buckle down, but for the life of her she couldn’t find that concentration that she’d had moments before when he was around. It was like he stole it the moment he entered her peripheral. “I know, it’s too incredulous to even think of you flirting with the likes of me.” The tease felt like an ancient taunt on the tip of her tongue as she took another sip of her coffee. “If it’s been this many years and I have yet to see this so called magic, I doubt I ever will. I’ll either have to believe you for your word or let you go on believing it when it’s not there.” The cup hung in the air as she stared at him for a moment, a small smile taking up the space where her drink would have been at him mocking her as she stared at him with wide eyes. “Isn’t that what I said? I’m pretty sure I did but you must have misheard me.”

[mikhail-novik-deactivated201603]

“Yeah, I’ll probably survive.”

[laylagreenes]

“You’ve got a good chance, better than most, especially if you don’t want to say that you went out thanks to a middle school joke from a girl that can’t even curl fifteen pounds without breaking a sweat. Or even knows what that means.”

[charlesxmunroe]

He grinned down at her. It was clear that she hid in the corner of the library to go undisturbed and focus on her work, but that didn’t discourage him from pestering her. She could never stay mad at him for long, especially when he shows up bearing her favorite drink. “Your favorite, as usual.” He placed the paper cup with ‘Butthole’ written on the side, per his request to the barista, on the table before falling into the empty seat next to her. “How do you expect someone to flirt with you if you keep speaking a different language? Must I remind you that not everyone here is gifted with the brilliant power of omnilingualism?”

[laylagreenes]

Her fingers reached out to take the coffee, frowning with an arch of her brows at him at the name written on the side as she shook her head but took it regardless. It wasn’t the coffee’s fault that he was an ass most of the time, and she wasn’t about to deny herself her favorite because of it either as she raised it to her lips for a sip. “The only one trying to flirt with me here is you and you never do a good job at it, mostly because you spend it flirting with everyone else with two legs and who think you’re actually charming.” Layla took a sip and felt her frown dissipate away along with some of her fried nerves as she glanced at him with a smirk as she set down her cup. “Buco di culo.”

[greenewithisolation]

“Guarda, sis,” Leaning forward, he plopped an extra apple down on top of her notes, taking another bite of his own, “C'è sempre qualcuno che ascolta.”

[laylagreenes]

“Solo se si lascia loro.” She reached up to tap him on the side of his head when he moved forward, knocking at the beanie that was never far from reach before she moved to fix the books that he’d moved.

[greenewithisolation]

Carter plopped down in the chair across from his dear, old, twin, and kicked his feet up on the table, dislodging a few books here or there. “Stai parlando a te stesso.” Taking a bite from the apple he’d brought with him, Carter grinned at Layla with a wink, “Ancora.”

[laylagreenes]

Frowning slightly at the agitation that her books had to take from the unwanted boots, Layla couldn’t keep a straight face even if she wanted to when she looked up. She rolled her eyes. “è solo parlando con me stesso quando nessuno è in ascolto.”

[charlesxmunroe]

The air was filled with the sound of turning pages and soft footsteps; his own added to the mix as he walked down the aisles, sneaking a glance at everyone he passed by. Some had their noses buried in books, whether it was for class or not, but most sat fooling around. He ducked his head around the corner, slowing down so his steps were silent when he saw the brunette hunched over an open book. Her voice was a murmur to him as he crept up behind her with two fresh cups of coffee in his hands and lowered his chin next to her ear. “Boo.”

[laylagreenes]

Too far gone to be considered sane, Layla knew that she had too much on her plate to even think about what all she had left to do outside of the books that surrounded her when a familiar voice hit her ear. She flinched, too hard not to do even when she’d been working on not to let her nerves get the best of her. It wasn’t working as she opened her eyes and glanced up at him, a sheepish look on her face that was close to a smile even when she spoke. “Io odio quando fai così.” Except she might not have meant her words at all.

[thebestoftumbling]

[hiiraethism]

“I’m sorry to hear that you had to choose. It’s the better choice, though.”

[laylagreenes]

“There’s bound to be someone that disagrees, not that it matters really. It’s already done, there’s nothing to do but pick up more shifts and hope for the best next month.”

[mikhail-novik-deactivated201603]

“Yeah, I walked right into that one.”

[laylagreenes]

“At least it wasn’t a bar, so there won’t be a bruise or anything. I think you’ll live.”

[laylagreenes]

With three exams, two essays, and an oral presentation in a class that she’d taken as an elective, Layla had successfully buried herself in an sea of books that littered the lone table that she occupied in the farthest corner of the library. It was the only place that she could hope to concentrate without fear of anyone disturbing her, catching her off guard, and hurting them. “Dormirò quando sarò morto,” she mumbled softly, oblivious to anyone approaching as she highlighted the passage she’d been translating. “Ovviamente.”

[mikhail-novik-deactivated201603]

He chuckled.  “Keep trying and it wont be so hard.”

[laylagreenes]

“That what he said.” Dead god, her brother was rubbing off on her.

[hiiraethism]

“Yes… So you aren’t. Okay.”

[laylagreenes]

“Yeah, it was a tough decision between electricity or my phone this month and as much as one would think it would come easily to me to just make it happen... it doesn’t. So no, can’t say that I have been getting any weird messages.”

[mikhail-novik-deactivated201603]

“You’re not a regular gym goer are you?”

[laylagreenes]

“What gave me away first? The lack of knowledge of all things gym etiquette or the fact that I have the upper body strength of a bird?”

[quentynxmartell]

You’re not one of the people I have an issue with, Layla. Don’t worry.

[laylagreenes]

I could. Who knows, I might forget my shoe size and act out, pick a fight with a textbook’s analysis of DNA sequencing and... I don’t know, something else that could get me in trouble. So it’s better to be careful than be that person getting the warning from you. 

[keepstridingon]

“I’d tell you a chemistry joke but… I know I wouldn’t get a reaction.”

[laylagreenes]

“Clever.”

[mirroringpaige-blog]

          “What part of my expression even hints at being interested in this? Feel free to go ahead and stop. In fact: I encourage you do to so.”

[laylagreenes]

“...alright. I didn’t mean to bother you or anything.”

[hiiraethism]

“Is anyone else getting strange text messages?”

[laylagreenes]

“That would require getting text messages.”